Humble Opinions

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Last
weekend was this year’s Cincinnati Comics Expo. For several reasons I could
only attend one day this year, Sunday. As usual, my friends at Comic Book World
had the biggest (and best) booth at the con.

The famous Comic Book World Booth

One
thing I love about the Cincy con is that they have lots of comic book dealers.
In this day of cons featuring media celebs, wrestlers and cosplay professionals,
the Cincinnati Expo likes and features comic dealers of all stripes. Folks were
there with quarter boxes (haven’t seen that for a while), dollar boxes and
walls full of primo key books for thousands of dollars apiece. There was
something for every budget. There were also dealers with comic-related art,
posters, clothing, props and weapons.

A Cheesecake art booth. Nice art!

David Bradley

I
first walked by the media celebrity tables. I really wanted to meet actor Cary
Elwes of The Princess Bride. I read his book about that movie and it was a hoot.
He was the con’s biggest media guest and they had been pushing his appearance
for almost a year. He cancelled a week before the con. Not sure why, but if it
wasn’t an emergency that was a jerky thing to do. I next looked for actor David
Bradley, Filch from the Harry Potter movies. He just wrapped up the fourth and
last season of The Strain and I loved his performance as the crusty old
professor and monster killer Abraham Setrakian. Of course, he had cancelled
too. I did meet up with character actor Jason Isaacs. I mentioned he creeped me
out with his performance as a New England gangster in the cable show Brotherhood. I’ve spoken with several
bad guy actors and movie villains now, and it amazes me how they justify the
behavior of their characters. In response, he said, “Yeah, but he had morals
and did the right

Jason Isaacs

thing sometimes.” I pointed out that he killed innocent
people (and many deserving ones). Isaacs replied, “Sure, but he tried to do the right thing.” That’s
interesting. In the show, Isaacs’ character Michael Caffee terrorized his
girlfriend, murdered innocent people and threatened anyone he could to get his
way. He really was an amoral scumbag who deserved to be removed from the planet
for the good of humanity. But the actor who played him only saw the character’s
redeeming features, as few as there were. I supposed actors are human and have
to survive playing evil people, so they cling to anything good or not wicked
about their character. That was an interesting conversation.

L to R: Matt, Ty Templeton, Ted

I
next ran across my friends Matt and Ted, waiting for Ted’s sketch from comic
artist Ty Templeton. He was drawing Jack Kirby creation Big Barda for Ted
(shhhh—I think Ted as a bit of a fetish for Barda—not that I blame him). Matt
showed me the Steve Canyon Templeton had drawn for him the day before (shhhhh—I
think Matt has a bit of a fetish for Steve Canyon). Here’s the drawing, which I
loved:

Steve Canyon by Ty Templeton

I
didn’t go to any panels this year, but I did take a few cosplay photos:

Poison Ivy - Excellent costume

Not sure and a Disney Princess

Star Wars Character

Another family that cosplays together ...

Star Wars pilot and a Sith Cheerleader. Really.

Suction-cup tip Green Arrow and the Joker

The best Harley Quinn at the show

Emma as a female Joker

Black Cat & Kingpin

Movie Wonder Woman. I approve!

A working R2-D2

A
fun con, as always. Hopefully not as many guests will cancel next year. Either
way, it is not the con organizer’s fault—some things just can’t be helped.

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Last
Saturday, August 26th, was the first annual Geek & Comicon
hosted by the Evansville Museum in Indiana. Organized by Evansville librarian Karen Malone (with advice and help from my friend Ted
Haycraft), this first show was well attended and had some excellent panels.

Early
on, Ted asked Ye Author to be part of a panel called “The Ins and Outs of Comic
Book Collecting." Since I have collected since before I could read and
have more comics than any sane person should have, it was probably a good match. My friend Matt and I set
out early Saturday morning for Evansville. Here are some highlights of the con.

Ted Haycraft on left

Here
Ted warms up for the first panel of the day, “Attending Cons 101.” No one was
sure how many folks would come, to the con or to the panel. Turns out a few
folks wandered in and soon the Planetarium where most panels were held had a
good crowd gathered.

Ted and Kyle Starks

Here
Ted interviews comics creator Kyle Starks about his independent comics work,
especially his work on the Rick & Morty comic. His graphic novel Kill Them
All comes out later this year.

This
gentleman did a wonderful job on a panel entitled “Captain America as a Propaganda
Tool During World War II.” He adapted his Master’s Thesis into an hour-long
talk filled with little-known facts about Cap and comic book WWII propaganda. It
was incredibly interesting. He really got into it, with his helmet and shield.

Ins and Outs of Collecting Comics panel

Ye Author (middle) gets a word in

Above are a few shots from my panel on collecting comics. I had two knowledgeable
comic book dealers on either side of me, so it was tough to get a word in
edgewise. I did manage to mention my life-long love of telling stories with
words and pictures, and how modern comics are too expensive. But whatcha gonna
do?

Ted's Jack Kirby Tribute Panel

The
last panel of the day was a Jack Kirby tribute from Ted “The Man” Haycraft
himself. Although it was a challenge to squeeze even an overview of King Kirby into 60 minutes, Ted did a brilliant job, enthusiastically expounding on the
man and his works. He opened many young eyes up to Kirby’s legacy—I hope those
kids will seek out his stories and enjoy them half as much as we do.

With
all modern comic conventions, cosplayers are along for the ride. Here are a few
from the show.

After
the show, a starving Matt and I accompanied the Evansville comics crew to a well-deserved feast. A fine group of men:

All
in all a great way to spend the day. I look forward to an even bigger show next
year!

Monday, August 28, 2017

Today
we recognize and salute the 100th birthday of Jack Kirby, born as Jacob
Kurtzberg. Jack was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York 100
years ago today.

Jack
Kirby was one of the most powerful, creative and prolific artists who ever
lived. Everything he did resonated with mad ideas and energy. He didn’t live to
see himself become the world-renowned superstar he is today, but I think he’d
be happy knowing that his creations will live forever. Thanks for everything,
Jack.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

It’s
sad to think what (SJW) Marvel Comics has become. Instead of telling adventure
stories about heroes and villains and good vs. evil, SJW Marvel has chosen to
publish comics about social issues, alternative lifestyles and how racist/intolerant/xenophobic,
etc. America is. Of course their traditional audience has fled in droves,
decimating their sales and crashing the company’s comic publishing division.
What is Marvel’s response? More SJW characters. Fewer classic characters. No
stories about heroes fighting villains (unless those villains are Christians,
conservatives or businessmen—those evils exist at Marvel to be killed or beaten
vociferously).

Diversity & Comics is one of the many YouTube Channels run by an unhappy fan who,
like me, detests this new SJW Marvel. The host is a talented artist and
insightful commentator with excellent judgment and a refreshing sense of
humor. He is fighting for Marvel to bring back intelligent stories with no
agenda and no ax to grind. That’s all we ask!

One
of the running jokes on Diversity is about Marvel’s new Iron Man, RiRi
Williams. For those who haven’t heard, RiRi is a teenaged black girl who stole
materials from MIT to make her own version of the Iron Man armor. She is
immediately feted by the world for being a savior and genius, the most heroic
heroine who ever lived, despite having no real accomplishments except theft and
good technical knowledge. RiRi is an obnoxious, clueless character who actually
asks other people to denounce her so she can claim racism. While SJW Marvel
lifts her up as a heroine, Diversity has a running gag that she is really meant
to be a super-villain. To this end, Diversity’s host has commissioned a
satirical comic story about RiRi as villain. It’s only ten pages and is
hilarious.

Diversity
has other such stories planned tweaking different books and characters at SJW Marvel.
Fans have been fed up for years that our characters are killed or replaced and
our beliefs are mocked by a company we used to love. It’s about time someone
struck back. And the way they do it is delicious. This isn’t just about mocking
SJW Marvel. It’s about returning sanity and the characters we love to the
company. Check it out. Again, this and all subsequent stories will be free to
readers.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

There
are three major rules to making a good superhero movie: 1. Trust your source
material. 2. Trust your source material. 3. See Rules 1 & 2. I know many
people (and many friends of mine) liked it, but to me Spider-Man: Homecoming was mostly a drastic, politically correct
misfire.

Let
start with a few things I liked. Tom Holland is pretty good as Spider-Man. He’s
a little young, but can probably play Spider-Man for the next 20 years if he
desires. Michael Keaton was enjoyable as the Vulture, a bad guy who isn’t
truly evil. He believably thinks he’s doing the right thing for his family
after being screwed over by a cold, uncaring system. The CGI and FX were great,
as always.

The
bad: nearly everything else. Again, has ANYONE connected with this movie read a
Spider-Man comic? Unfortunately, probably not, unless you count those awful
Ultimate stories. I don’t, those weren’t real comics. The supporting cast is irritating.
Peter’s best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) just exists to shout things the movie
is already telling us visually. “OH MY GOD! You can walk on ceilings!” “OH MY
GOD! You can shoot webbing!” “OH MY GOD ... “ You get the message. Ned, simmer
down. He’s Spider-Man. We get it. For some reason, bully Flash Thompson is now
an angry Indian boy. That is some inexplicable PC casting. Laura Harrier as Liz does well as Peter’s crush, who actually likes him back. Of
course she is shuffled out for the super-annoying Michelle (Zendaya, whoever
that is) who has no earthly reason to be in this movie, other than she is a
Disney Channel star and they own Marvel. Her character is obnoxious and toxic.
The only redeeming feature is that she wasn’t playing Mary Jane (Peter’s
girlfriend from the comics and movies) or his love interest. Imagine my bubble
bursting when she announces at the end of the movie that her friends call her “MJ.”
No. MJ is Mary Jane Watson, not you. This character could ruin the entire franchise. Neither the actress or the character worked on any level.

The
largest problem with the film is that the Pathetic Spider-Boy (title stolen
from Diversity & Comics’ review of the film, check it out here) is a
failure. In the comics, Peter Parker sure has his share of bad luck, but he
mostly manages to save the day and defeat the bad guys. This Peter is a total
knob. He manages to accidently destroy an ocean liner, then can’t keep it from
collapsing without the help of another hero. In the end, he is soundly beaten
by the Vulture, and would have been killed if the Vulture’s armor hadn’t
self-destructed. He’s a screw-up and loser. He and his friends are supposed to
be around 15 years old, but they act as if they are 10 or 11. OH MY GOD! YOU
CAN STICK TO WALLS!

The great Robert Downey Jr. with Tom Holland

Another
problem is that Spider-Man’s uniqueness and intelligence are downplayed if not
outright eliminated. In the comics, Peter Parker invents his web-shooters and
web-fluid, sews his own costume and figures out the hero thing mostly himself.
Being indirectly responsible for the death of his beloved Uncle Ben has put a
weight on his shoulders--a weight that helps make him a true hero (as shown beautifully
in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films). In Homecoming,
Ben Parker isn’t even mentioned. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) invents the web-shooters, gives
Peter a hi-tech costume and basically invents Spider-Man. What does Peter do,
except lose at every major task assigned him? He screws up so badly that Stark
takes away his costume and gadgets in the middle of the movie, and HE DOESN’T
GET THEM BACK! Spider-Man goes through the last half of the movie in a
sweatshirt and sweatpants. That was infuriating. I paid $11 to see Spider-Man,
not Sweatshirt Boy. Who wants to see that? This is true numbskull writing and
directing.

Tomei, not Aunt May

Finally,
I’m not sure what to make of Marisa Tomei as Aunt May. Every Aunt May in comics
and the movies has been an elderly woman. Tomei is a very well kept 52 and
looks much younger. Tony Stark flirts with her regularly. This isn’t the worst
thing in the world, but she’s not Aunt May. Read a comic, producers!

Should
every superhero movie be exactly like the comics in every way? No. I realize
that certain changes sometimes have to be made for different mediums.
However, why make a movie with Spider-Man as your source material, then ignore
everything that made that character great? I’d understand if this was 1975 and the
film was made by a studio that looked at Marvel like a cockroach. However,
Marvel Studios was partially responsible (with Sony) for this movie! What hope
do we have of anything being adapted well when the company that owns the
character can’t get inspiration from their own source material?

The
Spider-Man franchise has nowhere to go but up. I hope they make it there. This
movie is not recommended.

Monday, July 3, 2017

What
could be better than a psychosexual romp with such a great cast? Watching paint
dry, actually. Naomi Watts, a fine actress, plays a therapist who is bored with
her perfect life and loving husband (Billy Crudup), and decides to look up
exciting people in her patient’s lives. I made it through three episodes of ten
before slamming the door on this one. Firstly, her life is actually perfect. She
is rich, beautiful, has a fulfilling job. Any material object she desires is at
her fingertips. Her seven-year old daughter is going to be gay or transgender
(telegraphed so obviously it devolves into camp—is being a boy REALLY the only
thing a seven-year old would think about?), but other than that her life is
trouble and stress free. Of course she’s bored, she has everything! The character
violates all kinds of ethics has no moral compass or conscience. There is very
little story here, this is someone’s vanity project with themselves as the
audience.

From
its laughable PG-rated sex scenes to the glacial pace, Gypsy is TV for rich housewives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. It’s
boring with an unlikable, morally challenged main character. I’d rather watch a
slide show of my great uncle’s vacation to Bronson, Missouri.

Rating:
** stars out of 5

GLOW

GLOW
is a ½-hour comedy based on the great ‘70s organization, Gorgeous Ladies of
Wrestling. The point-of-view character is Ruth Wilde, played by Alison Brie (Mad Men). Ruth is a down on her luck
actress, tired of playing background characters with stunning lines such as, “Your
wife is on line 1.”

Reluctantly,
Ruth joins the fledgling wrestling group Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, intended
to be a syndicated wrestling show. These first ten episodes tell the story of
the formation of the league and making the pilot of the syndicated show.

This
first season is incredibly well written and humorous. The characters,
relationships and situations are a riot and constantly urged viewers to think “I
wonder if this really happened?” One of the most interesting aspects of the show
is how each lady finds her wrestling persona. From the offensive black woman
known as “Welfare Queen” (“I eat like royalty on food stamps ... paid for by
the American taxpayer!”) to the Party Girl and Wolf Girl, the organization
capitalizes on the zeitgeist of 1970s America. Ruth’s struggle to find her
wrestling alter ego is challenging, but when she finally discovers it, the
character is perfect for Ruth, the actress playing her and the show.

I
can’t wholly recommend the show because of Ruth’s character. She’s hideous. She
sleeps with her best friend’s husband in the pilot (which sets up a season-long
dramatic arc), and makes another choice midway through the season which
portrays her as a horrible person, one whom I don’t want to support or watch.
It’s not so much what she does, but how cavalierly she does it. There’s no
regret or recrimination, her career and selfishness easily comes before
anything else. This stops her from being a sympathetic or likable character.

While
I can’t recommend the series, it was funny and entertaining, except for Ruth’s
character.

Rating:
** out of 5 stars

Small
Crimes

I
enjoy crime movies, but there has to be more to the story than a sociopathic thug
beyond redemption. Unfortunately that’s all there is to this Netflix misfire. Nikolaj
Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones)
plays Joe Denton, a cop sentenced to prison for attempted murder. He is
released on parole and returns to his community, ostensibly to redeem himself. He
doesn’t. He immediately gets involved with the bad people who put him there and
continues his criminal career. At first he avoids causing any harm, more out of
a sense of not wanting to go back to prison than any thoughts of humanity or
doing the right thing. But eventually his actions damage his new nurse girlfriend
(the great Molly Parker) and his supportive parents.

Denton
is a one-man wrecking crew, steamrolling through the city and its inhabitants
to get what he wants. He is evil and beyond redemption. The only thing that
humanizes him is his wish to reconnect with his two daughters, a desire the
courts and his parents intelligently deny him. At the end of 90 minutes, Small Crimes has added nothing to the
world; no lessons, no hope, no insights into the human condition (other than
scorpions sting people, big news), and no entertainment value. Avoid this one. Again,
reprehensible characters are fine—but they have to be three-dimensional. Joe
Denton is not, despite a fine performance by Coster-Waldau.

Rating:
** out of 5 stars

It’s
almost comforting to know Netflix isn’t perfect. With its excellent track
record of continuing cancelled series (Longmire)
and high-quality original content (Stranger
Things, Orange is the New Black)
they seemed bulletproof for a while. But the more original material they
create, the more mistakes they will make. Welcome to real life, Netflix!